WHEN THEY ARE ANNOYED

You see, we don't take any collection during the
performance at our place. Jadu's7 mother says to
me, "Other sadhus always ask for money, but you
do not." Worldly people feel annoyed if they have
to spend money.
A theatrical performance was being given at a
certain place. A man felt a great desire to take a
seat and see it. He peeped in and saw that a
collection was being taken from the audience.
Quietly he slipped away. Another performance was
being given at some other place. He went there
and, inquiring, found that no collection would be
taken. There was a great rush of people. He
elbowed his way through the crowd and reached
the centre of the hall. There he picked out a nice
seat for himself, twirled his moustaches, and sat
through the performance.

WHAT THE WORLD MAKES OF MEN

As a boy, at Kamarpukur, I loved Ram Mallick
dearly. But afterwards, when he came here, I
couldn't touch him. Ram Mallick and I were great
friends during our boyhood. We were together day
and night; we slept together. At that time I was
sixteen or seventeen years old. People used to say,
"If one of them were a woman they would marry
each other." Both of us used to play at his house I
remember those days very well. His relatives used
to come riding in palanquins. Now he has a shop at
Chanak. I sent for him many a time; he came here
the other day and spent two days. Ram said he had
no children; he brought up his nephew, but the
boy died. He told me this with a sigh; his eyes were
rilled with tears; he was grief stricken for his
nephew. He said further that since they had no
children of their own, all his wife's affection had
been turned to the nephew. She was completely
overwhelmed with grief. Ram said to her: "You are
crazy. What will you gain by grieving?
Do you want to go to Benares?" You see, he called
his wife crazy. Grief for the boy totally 'diluted'
him.
J found he had no stuff within him. I couldn't
touch him.

IN THE FOREST OF THE WORLD

Once, a man was going through a forest, when
three robbers fell upon him and robbed him of all
his possessions. One of the robbers said, "What's
the use of keeping this man alive?" So saying, he
was about to kill him with his sword, when the
second robber interrupted him, saying: 'Oh, no!
What is the use of killing him? Tie his hand and
foot and leave him here." The robbers bound his
hands and feet and went away. After a while the
third robber returned and said to the man: "Ah, I
am sorry. Are you hurt? I will release you from
your bonds." After setting the man free, the thief
said: "Come with me. I will take you to the public
high way." After a long time they reached the
road. At this the man said: "Sir, you have been very
good to me. Come with me to my house." "Oh,
no!" the robber replied. "I can't go there. The
police will know it."
This world itself is the forest. The three robbers
prowling here are Satva, rajas, and lamas. It is they
that rob a man of the Knowledge of Truth. Tamas
wants to destroy him. „Rajas‟ binds him to the
world.
But Satva rescues him from the clutches of rajas
and tamas. Under the protection of Satva, man is
rescued from anger, passion and other evil effects
of tamas.
Further, Satva loosens the bonds of the world. But
Satva also is a robber. It cannot give man the
ultimate Knowledge of Truth, though it shows him
the road leading to the Supreme Abode of God.
Setting him on the path, Satva tells him: "Look
yonder. There is your home." Even Satva is far
away from the knowledge of Brahman.

THIS IS INDEED THE WORLD!

Once, Hriday3 brought a bull-calf here. I saw, one

day, that he had tied it with a rope in the garden4,

so that it might graze there. I asked him, "Hriday,

why do you tic the calf there every day?" "Uncle"

he said, "I am going to send the calf to our village.

When it grows strong I shall yoke it to the plough."

As soon as I heard these words I was stunned to

think: "How inscrutable is the play of the Divine

Maya! Kamarpukur5 and Sihore6 are so far away

from Calcutta! This poor calf must go all that way.

Then it will grow, and at length it will be yoked to

the plough. This is indeed the world! This is indeed

Maya!” I fell unconscious. Only after a long time

did I regain consciousness.

BharataVarsha: AN ANT WENT TO A SUGAR HILL

BharataVarsha: AN ANT WENT TO A SUGAR HILL: MEN often think they have understood Brahman fully. Once, an ant went to a sugar hill. One grain filled its stomach. Taking anothe...

GOD ALONE HAS BECOME ALL THINGS

AT one time Rama was overpowered by the spirit

of renunciation. Dasaratha, worried at this, went to

the sage Vasistha and begged him to persuade

Rama not to give up the world. The sage came to

Rama and found him in a gloomy mood. The fire

of intense renunciation had been raging in the

Prince's mind. Vasistha said: "Rama, why should

you renounce the world? Is the world outside

God? Reason with me." Rama realized that the

world had evolved from the supreme Brahman. So

he said nothing.

HOW A MONK KNEW THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD

A certain monk went to the temple of Jagannath at

Puri. He had doubts as to whether God is with

form or without form. When he saw the holy

image, he desired to examine it and settle his

doubt. He passed his staff from the left to the right

in order to feel if it touched the image. For a time,

he could not see anything or feel anything with the

staff. So he decided that God was without form.

When he was about to pass the staff from the right

to the left, it touched the image.

So the monk decided that God is both with form

and without form.